The Grim and The Glorious
by The Sky Rogue
Summary: When Asgard is threatened by an evil force, who will stand to defend her? Please R
1. The Grim and the Glorious, Prelude

Note: I do not own Riviera or any of the characters found in the game Riviera: The Promised Land

Hey everyone this is my first fanfic! Yay! If you must criticize, please do so in a constructive manner so that I may either correct the problem or see what I can do to make this more enjoyable. Depending on the feed back that I get on this I will post as often as I can. Please note that I am a High School student that does not have much free time. With that out of the way let's begin.

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The Grim and The Glorious

An excerpt from Daylan's journal, record of Asgardian history.

... It's the height of the battle in Asgard. Anyone caught outside perishes almost immediately. They have breached the outer walls and are slowly making their way to the inner sanctum where I and the gods are sitting in a council. The gods have reached a decision that could save Asgard from the evil waiting on the other side of the door. A decision that just might save Asgard, six of the mightiest gods have decided to give them selves up for the creation of the ones that may save us from the peril. As a recorder, I can only sit to the side and watch in horror as the gods agree to fall into eternal darkness for the lives of all creation...

An excerpt from Lundrig's scroll, record of Asgardian history.

...The six of them came through the door single file. Chosen by the gods, they had grim looks on their faces as the seriousness of the situation dawned on them. As the six volunteer gods walk to the angels waiting there, there was a horrible screech as a dead harpy flew through the window above. The hour had come. As the gods drew near their angel counterparts, I saw the angels' eyes grow wide with anticipation and shock when they finally knew what the gods meant by using their own power to help Asgard...

An excerpt from an unknown source, found on the corpse of a demon.

... The terrible massacre caused by the creatures was too great, I urge anyone that finds this to run and never be found, run and don't stop. If you see those perversions of the gods, know that your time has come. You have no chance for survival, say your prayers and wait for death to find you. Those horrible black wings and burning, bright weapons will be the end of the world... run... and don't look back...


	2. Weapons of the Gods

Disclaimer: I don't own Riviera: The Promised Land or any of the characters found therein.

Here's chapter number one. Let the games begin. Please R&R. Remember Constructive Criticisim. Thanks!

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Chapter 1

Weapons of the Gods

Karl looked at the five other angels that had come to the Inner Sanctum when the message was sent. The message had said to come to the Inner Sanctum to witness the gods use their divine power to save Asgard. Karl wondered why there were only five angels outside the holy place instead of all of Asgard. Just as he was about to say something, a magus greeted them.

"Come inside, chosen ones. Your presence is required to save Asgard."

"Why?" one of the others asked.

"It is not my place to tell you what will transpire here in our grievous time."

With that, the magus went inside and the angels were forced to follow or die outside in the battle. They passed many chambers along the way. Angels with ancient weapons rushed past them as they calmly passed through the Sanctum. They walked for what seemed like hours passing libraries, armories, treasuries, and banquet halls. When they finally arrived, the magus disappeared and they filed into the hall. Karl was amazed as he saw the gods up close for the first time in his life. He saw Odin sitting on his throne with two recorders next to him with pens scribbling down everything they saw as fast as they could.

"Angels, you have been summoned here to witness the gods use their power to defeat this menace that opposes our most holy reign," Odin called. "State your names."

"Meline."

"Karl."

"Scarla."

"Cody."

"Ein."

"Ledah."

"Very good. You have been charged with a most important task. You are to rid our realm of this fiendish menace that threatens to destroy us."

With that, a god or goddess walked toward each of them with unmatched grace and laid their hands on each of their heads. Karl couldn't believe what was happening. These gods were going to sacrifice themselves? Impossible! A goddess with dark eyes and short hair put her hand on his head.

"Karl, I give to you the strength that has been given to me in order to save Asgard. Use it well and create peace for your fellow angels in Asgard. Face the trials and become a Grim Angel."

It was beyond him. He didn't understand why they were doing this. Weren't they all powerful? Why give themselves up?

All of the sudden everything became dark he couldn't see or move. He was trapped.

A warm voice then spoke to him out of the darkness.

"Behold, Chosen one. The trials are beginning. The first trial will be the trial of spirit."

Immediately after these words were spoken Karl was able to see that he was in a chair. Tied down as a demon circled around him.

"You will tell me what I want to know, yes? Where is the Inner Sanctum of Asgard?"

Karl knew that he shouldn't tell where the place was to a demon. He shut his eyes and tried to think of an answer. But words seemed to flee before his mind as he searched for them. Eventually he said something.

"There is no Inner Sanctum."

The demon laughed a terrible screeching laugh.

"If there isn't an Inner Sanctum then how did your gods rule you?"

"...They ruled from their homes."

"Is that so? Well then, where are their homes?"

"I don't know."

"That's a lie. I can see it."

"I'll never tell."

"Oh, I think you will."

"Never."

The demon drew close to him.

"I can see where it is. It's right in the middle of Asgard. I thank you for your cooperation. Prepare to be executed."

_This can't be happening,_ Karl thought. _I can't let them go. I can't! I must get free, I have to . . . get . . . free . . . _

Suddenly he wasn't tied down. The warm voice called out

"Good, you fought valiantly. Now on to the next test."

Karl was in an arena. A giant faced him, his club falling down to the earth. Karl rolled to the side. He ran to the other side of the arena.

_How do I beat _that

Then in his hands was a sword he swung it clumsily.

"Well, it's better than nothing," he muttered.

The club came crashing to the earth again, and again Karl narrowly dodged it. He ran up the club to the giant's face and swung the sword in an arc it made contact and demon blood poured to the ground.

"Whew, I did it."

The darkness came back.

"Well played. You have earned the right to be called a Grim Angel. However to receive the power of the gods you must give up something in return."

This was hard. All his life Karl had been content with what he had. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he needed to seek to be content. He had made his decision.

" I will give up my peace. I will seek and never find. I will wander until I die."

"You are sure, Angel?"

"Yes."

"Very well. You have earned your power. Behold! It comes to you eagerly, a gift from the goddess that sacrificed herself for peace."

A dagger flew up from the depths of the darkness. A dark dagger that seemed to gleam even in the pitch darkness that he was in. Then the darkness was gone and the Great Hall of the Inner Sanctum returned. In his hand was the black dagger.

_Fenrir._

The voice startled him he looked about then his eyes returned to the dagger

_Fenrir._

Again he looked about all that he saw were his fellow angels with similar expressions on their faces. Eyes darting back to the dagger.

_Fenrir._

Was it possible that it was the dagger speaking to him?

He said the name aloud, "Fenrir."

The dagger seemed to flicker darkly than before.

That was his weapon's name, Fenrir.

Odin spoke, "Grim Angels, servants of the gods. Time grows short, you, along with your diviners, must drive back the demons that have penetrated Asgard and destroy their source in Utgard, beyond Heaven's gate. Do you pledge your allegiance to the gods of Asgard?"

"I, Ledah, Grim Angel, swear upon the diviner Lorelei, to defend Asgard."

"I, Ein, Grim Angel, swear upon the diviner Einherjar, to defend Asgard."

The next angel merely bowed and lowered his diviner.

_Skadi. _(A/N: Not Malice's Skadi, this one is the original, Malice's is a copy of it)

"I, Scarla, Grim Angel, swear upon the diviner Thor, to defend Asgard."

"I, Karl, Grim Angel, swear upon the diviner Fenrir, to defend Asgard."

"I, Meline, Grim Angel, swear upon the diviner Fang, to defend Asgard."

"Very well, Go and Conquer in the name of the gods."

At that moment a group of demons burst through the door and halted at the scent of the five black-winged and one wingless angel. Then Meline took Fang, the bow diviner, and fired an arrow. The rest of us charged. We had become the weapons of the gods.

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Each angel has an element attributed to them.

Ledah - Fire

Ein - Holy

Cody - Ice

Scarla - Lightning

Karl - Darkness

Meline - Physical


	3. The First Charge

Disclaimer: I don't own Riviera nor do I own any characters found in the game. Everyone else but the gods, Einherjar,and Lorelei are mine.

This chapter is a bit shorter than the others but it has some action in it so I hope that that makes up for it. Constructive criticism please and remember, if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all.

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Chapter 2

The First Charge

The battle was unlike Cody had ever thought it would've been. Even with Skadi, the Diviner of ice, it was hard. The demons kept coming through the door and no manner how many he would slay it seemed like two more would appear in their place. He was doing fine until a lucky Kobold managed to strike the black-winged defender, then it went down hill. The other angels had similar problems. To his left, Ein, the wingless angel, had already been surrounded and desperately fought to regain ground as wave after wave of demons came rushing in to take him out. Looking a little farther, Cody saw Ledah lashing out with Lorelei as if he had known how to his entire life.

_Who knows? He might have used a spear before._

Even further to the left was Scarla. With the mighty Diviner, Thor, she struck left, right, and center and it seemed to Cody that she was like a butcher in the slaughter house and the demons were the sheep lined up to be destroyed. To his right he saw Karl, armed with Fenrir the dagger Diviner, jumping onto each enemy as they came to him. He looked like a ravenous wolf come to feast on his prey by the way he jumped from enemy to enemy while barely touching the ground. Then Cody saw an unexpected sight, Odin, king of the gods, had a huge battle axe and was blowing away enemy after enemy, blood dripped from the business end of the axe head.

Then it happened, Cody began to take numerous blows from many enemies and soon he fell to the ground from their brutal onslaught. He couldn't call for help because he had given up his speech for his Diviner. Then, just as he thought about how pathetic it would be to die in his first battle. He felt the pain lessen and opened his eyes. Demons were being blown backward from the force of several arrows, then he remembered that Meline had been behind him the entire time, supporting the angels. He quickly flew high into the air and turned and saluted with his axe to the bow woman from behind. She nodded and then began firing back into the fray that had grown to close to her. Cody, seeing that she was in peril, folded his wings in and dove into the crowd in front of her. Hacking and slicing with Skadi's blue blade, he eventually made it to where she was standing and began the support battle. First a demon had gotten to close in front infront of her so he sliced into the bold demon and immediately moved to her side where she was being accosted by another demon. After taking out the demon he put his hand on her shoulder to signal to cease fire for a moment then flipped over her head, twisting in the air, to bring the blade of his Diviner down onto the demons head, cutting it in two. As he continued to move around his new charge he realized that he was straying a bit too far from her. He noticed this when an arrow came zipping past his cheek and into another demon. He turned and ran back to where she was and began again. The battle had already taken an hour and was beginning to fatigue the angels as they continued to fight the seemingly endless horde of demons soon the fight had retreated to around where Cody and Meline were. Ledah was still going and so was Karl. But Ein and Scarla were beginning to be overwhelmed. As Odin supported them Cody was striking from above with the fury and speed of a falcon going for the kill. Then Odin shouted above the clamor in the Hall.

"Everyone! Surround Meline! I'm going to send them packing!"

Then his axe began to glow a bright white.

"Holy Fury," Odin shouted.

Then he swung his axe horizontally and all of the demons fell to the ground, dead.

"Wow," Ein exclaimed

"Why didn't you do that before," Meline inquired.

"Because I've been storing my power since the beginning of the battle. It is an enormous tax on even a god's body to destroy that many enemies in one blow."

Cody sat down on the ground panting.

Odin spoke, "Do you need an elixir, Silent One?"

Cody shook his head and stood again. Just then, an angel ran into the room and declared, "Master, we've managed to win the battle around the Inner Sanctum we can hold for the night."

"Good," Odin said. "We shall feast tonight in honor of our newest warriors. Make preparations and tell the cooks to prepare as much food as they can."

"Yes, sir."

That night the Grim Angels feasted on everything in sight and were shown to there quarters. It was a lavish suite with a command view from an enormous balcony outside. When they had settled in each began to reflect on the battle. Ein had fallen asleep almost immediately. The women decided to screen off their area of the suite. Ledah was outside on the balcony. Cody lounged on the bunk that he and Karl shared. Karl climbed into the bottom bunk and began to mutter to himself quietly, after listening carefully, Cody could hear that it was a prayer that the gods would protect them. Soon Cody himself fell asleep to the sound of Karl's prayer. Too bad tomorrow wouldn't be nearly as "peaceful" as today was.

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A Kobold is a type of demon. If you haven't played the game then think of it as a short fast orc or a tall ferocious goblin your choice.


	4. When Emotion is Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own Riviera: The Promised Land or any of the characters and weapons unique to the game.

Here's chapter three I hope it keeps you reading my story. Please R&R. If you must criticize, please do so constructively.

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Chapter 3

When Emotion is Lost

Ledah awoke to the sound of bells as the Asgardian dawn gently shone through the window of the Angels' quarters. He began to fall out of the bunk he was in until he remembered that he had chosen the high bunk. He lost his balance and began to fall and realized just a little too late as he came crashing down on Ein, who was just crawling out of his bunk. They landed in a heap on the floor and everyone else woke up because Ein yelped in surprise. Cody bolted upright and Scarla began to grumble about being woken up early. Meline calmly stared at the two and then laughed behind her hand. The only one that didn't wake up was Karl and he was awakened silently by Cody soon after. The angels got dressed and began to file out the door, the sweet smell of pancakes driving them to the mess hall where they were waited on by one of the head chefs. Everybody except Cody had ordered. The chef was getting frustrated as the mute angel couldn't put voice to his order. He was frantically gesturing until Meline ordered for him. Apparently she knew what he wanted because he gave a small nod shortly after, indicating that she had indeed chosen correctly. Ledah looked over his fellow Grim Angels and tried to guess what they had sacrificed for their Diviners. But he didn't have to wait long before Ein voiced his thoughts to the rest of them.

"So, what did you all give in return for your Diviners. I think it's quite obvious what I gave up, but I'm curious as to what you guys did."

Meline spoke first, "I gave up my family for my Diviner. I have no regrets though; don't ask."

Cody gestured to his throat and opened his mouth indicating he had lost his voice.

"I gave up my past life for the Diviner," said Scarla. (A/N: this idea was inspired by lightningdude.)

Karl spoke, "I gave up my peace. I'll never settle down. I'll always wander."

Ledah was the last to speak, "I don't prefer to say what I lost."

Ein opened his mouth to protest when the food arrived. The Grim Angels ate heartily and then received a summons to the Great Hall. Bolting the rest of their food, the angels excused themselves to the Great Hall where Odin was waiting on his throne.

"Grim Angels, servants of the gods, I have received your first missions from our commander in the field. First two of you will go on reconnaissance for our forward battalions while the rest of you lead several charges against the enemy. Decide amongst yourselves who will go on these missions and complete them as soon as possible. You are dismissed."

Ledah had immediately told them that he was leading a charge on the field. He tuned them out as he walked to the entrance of the Inner Sanctum and flew off to a battalion staging area. When he arrived at the furthest forward, he reported into the lieutenant commander in charge and took over battle operations.

"I want the heavily armored flyers to advance first followed by the lightly armed. Bowmen and artillery are to remain at the rear to pick off any demon advances. When the close-combat soldiers engage the enemy the artilleries are to aim farther back, toward the command point of the enemy line bowmen are to pick off any demons that manage to make it through the lines. Trust me there is going to be a great deal."

Under Ledah's command the battalion was quickly ready for the recon angels to give the order to engage the enemy. It had been two hours and the angels hadn't shown up. Three. Four. Then a flicker of movement in the sky as a heavily injured Karl was lead into the camp by a not as injured Meline.

"What happened?" Ledah asked. "Did you fail?"

"No," Meline replied. "We were met by enemy ground scouts that had managed to spot us from far off."

"Hmph, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Send runners to the remaining battalions telling them to engage when I give the signal."

"Yes, sir."

"Major!"

"Sir?"

"Take these two to the medical tent for treatment."

"Yes, sir."

Meline looked grateful and said, "Thanks Ledah."

"Whatever," was all she got in return.

30 minutes had passed when the first few demons began to appear on the opposite side of the field. The runners had returned with confirmation from the other three Grim Angels that they were ready when he was. Ledah had just been made the commander of the armies of Asgard. When a shocked Private said this Ledah shook it off with a resolute, "return to your post."

Then the demons had really begun to show up in numbers as what seemed like hordes came out of the surrounding forests and grasslands. Ledah gave the preparation signal to the archers, who then raised bows into the air and nocked their arrows. Then Ledah gave the signal to fire.

As deadly shafts of silent death flew into the hearts of many victims on the other field. Huge bursts of red light flew into the sky and rained down hot metal onto Asgard's foes. And though Ledah did not see it personally he knew the other battalions had charged by the answering green, blue, and yellow lights a good distance away. The demons charged, screaming out war cries and swinging their dark blades in anticipation of blood. Then Ledah charged.

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I hope the chapter keeps you in enough suspense to keep reading!

Stay tuned for the next chapter, The Dogs of War.


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